


the game you like

by tanyart



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Enemies, Enemies to Enemies but they Kiss Probably, F/F, Handcuffed Together, Heist, Interspecies Romance, Regency Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:48:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23354197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tanyart/pseuds/tanyart
Summary: Eramis gets kidnapped and robbed in the least straightforward way. Lady Olu is a terrible kidnapper. Maybe love can bloom on the... the, uh, hm.
Relationships: Eramis (Destiny)/Olu Alderdice
Comments: 5
Kudos: 22





	the game you like

**Author's Note:**

> I found myself missing Age of Sail fiction and writing it, and I thought to myself "how about lesbian pirate meets lesbian spy: in space" and here we are.

The undead ghoul known as Lady Olu Alderdice held out one of her hands to shake. It was a human gesture. Eramis prickled with the indignity of it. She would sooner throw her knives down and make the Eliksni bow first before accepting.

The flesh surrounding Lady Olu’s mouth curved, showing her blunted teeth.

“ _Baroness_ , I insist you shake on it, to make good on our deal.”

The deal in question was Olu's ship for a couple of scorch cannons. With growing numbers and no way to transport her crew around, Eramis was in need of more ships than weapons at the moment, and a Guardian's ship would be invaluable to have, provided Lady Olu was good on her word.

To say that Eramis was desperate for ships was an overstatement. She could do fine without a ship or two, but why pass up the offer? Rumors had it Olu was flexible with her alliances as she was with her morals. How Eramis could profit from it has yet to be seen.

With a sense of grudging finality, Eramis extended one of her secondary arms. Lady Olu’s hand was small and fleshy soft in her claws, like holding overripe fruit. She could easily crush it in her grip, especially when Lady Olu was not wearing any gloves, and her bracers had frills at the wrists made of delicate white cloth. As far as Eramis could tell, it wasn’t something most humans wore in the company of Eliksni. Her eyes narrowed.

The observation came a little too late.

The frills at Lady Olu’s wrist flashed, the lacing shifting up her hand. Had Eramis not been looking at them already, she would have missed the threads spreading over her own claws, creeping up like unruly vines.

Eramis snatched her hand back and ended up pulling on Lady Olu, who stood her ground, bearing her teeth in unabashed victory. To Eramis’ horror, the frills had turned into a sticky web around their hands, gluing her wrist to the Lightbearer’s.

“Ah-hah!” cried Lady Olu. “I’ve got you now, you scoundrel! The Vanguard will certainly pay _quite_ the handsome sum for your h-”

Eramis shot her with a shock pistol. Olu’s body crumpled to the ground, only to be slightly held up by Eramis’ entrapped hand.

“Lying piece of shit,” Eramis spat, and aimed the pistol at Olu’s arm to sever it from the bulk of the corpse. She’d figure out how to free herself from the Lightbearer's hand later.

The webbing started to burn, a flash of Arc energy spiraling up her nerves. Eramis hissed, drawing back her gun.

Lady Olu then stood up, unruffled and making a show of dusting off her petticoat. Her Ghost, small crafty thing, had resurrected her without appearing. “Now, that won’t do.”

Eramis shot her again.

Lady Olu died for a moment, and came back to life, covered in bright red blood. Curiously, there was no resurrection Light. “Okay, stop that. I’m afraid you can’t kill me, not like that. We’re linked now, you and I.”

Eramis took out a shock dagger. Light-afflicted or no, she would cut off her own arm then. She could always grow another.

Apparently, it wasn’t meant to be. Olu’s bright red eyes gleamed. Her hand, quick like lightning, snatched Eramis’ arm, turning herself around and forcing Eramis to twist with her. Before Eramis had time to draw her next breath, Olu had flipped her over one shoulder and slammed her to the ground.

Olu sat down on her chest. Eramis felt the whole of her weight, which seemed all too heavy for a creature so tiny. Olu crossed her legs to sit astride, a wave of cold energy skirting in the air at her heels — void, heavy and forcing Eramis to feel as if gravity itself had turned against her. The shock dagger was still in her hand, for all the good it did.

“I see that you are set on being unreasonable, so you listen here, my dear Eramis,” said Olu, leaning over, their wrists infuriatingly still joined. “I’ve a deal to make with you.”

Eramis was tempted to tell Olu to go fuck herself, but Eramis wasn’t as quick-tempered as she used to be. The fall of the House of Devils had gifted her with many hard lessons, and practicality was a necessity of survival. She studied Olu’s counternanced, saw that the Lightbearer was very much at ease with the situation, and knew her initial assessment of Olu was very much true.

Flexible with her alliances, indeed.

Eramis relaxed. “You aren’t satisfied with the Vanguard’s bounty.”

“Don’t misunderstand. I’ll happily turn you in, should I find your counter offer lacking.”

Eramis regarded her with thinly veiled distaste. She snorted. “I don’t have a counter offer to give.”

“What? I find that hard to believe. No Eliksni weaponry secrets? New stealth tech?”

None that Eramis was willing to part with. Rebuilding the House of Devils would not go over so well if she had traded her technology to some loose-fingered Lightbearer. She was sure Olu would have been more than happy to take a sample of what new SIVA developments they made.

Eramis huffed. “I am insured for four million glimmer.”

That seemed to take Olu by surprise. “Oh, marvelous. Four million? It’s a deal then.”

Eramis waited. Olu waited. They blinked at each other.

“Well?” Olu glanced down, rolling one hand in the air. “Here are my transmat coordinates, the wire to my vault. Chop, chop.”

 _Chop, chop?_ Humans were truly vile. Eramis blew out a stream of ether, taking petty satisfaction with the way Olu leaned away to avoid the fumes. “We have to go to my bank, with my civil advocate present.”

“What?”

Eramis shrugged, unable and unwilling to think of another term. Olu’s Eliksni was more than passable, a mix of all the high dialects, in a very proper old accent spoken by the older Captains and Barons — though that generation was a dying breed these days. She had the feeling that Olu likely spoke in the same archaic way in human.

Olu’s little round machine appeared, chittering in human. Olu’s eyes widened.

“A _lawyer!_ ” she exclaimed, sounding dismayed. “Ooh, I thought the Eliksni were in too dire straits to bother with _those_.” She glanced back down at Eramis, shifting her weight and clearly getting too comfortable in her seat. “Can you not simply _give_ me the glimmer?”

“The life insurance funds are kept at the Bank. I don’t know how you humans do it, but we have a process. You lot keep killing our Barons and Kell without doing things the right way. Would save us a lot of trouble and jobs if you spoke with our civil advocates first.”

Olu had the grace to look a little abashed. The look only lasted for half a second. “Well! I shall keep that in mind the next time I decide to threaten another Baroness. In the meantime, I am perfectly willing to offer personal bodyguard services and escort you to your Bank."

Eramis stared at her. The sheer gall had taken her aback, the ridiculousness leaving her speechless. Of course a ghoul would be brazen enough to rob their kidnapped victim with their own ransom.

“You hold yourself up too high. I’ll give you the four million glimmer, but I’ve no need for an escort, especially _you_.”

Olu’s terrible flesh-lined mouth lifted at the ends. "Oh? So far, I’ve ignored several Vanguard calls asking where I’ve been, redirected three Guardian patrol ships away from your fleet, and told the Spider to lay off the Mossen Caves for at least a week. That’s your territory, is it not? It would be a shame if I had to send this map to the Vanguard. And I’ll bet my best knife the Spider wouldn’t like that either."

Truth be told, Eramis had stopped listening to Olu after the first sentence. Instead, she was struck with perfect clarity that Lady Olu, for all her elaborate deceits and heists, only wanted to be entertained and make a profit while doing it.

Eramis hissed. “Your methods are appalling.”

“I charge by the hour, by the by,” Olu said, sensing that she was getting her horrible deal. She lifted her weight, just enough that it forced Eramis to wiggle gracelessly out from under her, and wiggle gracelessly Eramis did.

“How much for your silence?” Eramis asked, sarcastic, once she had gotten to her feet. She dusted herself off and rearranged her skewed armor with three of her free hands.

“Oh, I’m afraid that’s not up for sale. I do so much like to talk — hey, wh-h- _ahhhh!_ ”

Heedless of consequence and filled with only thoughts of revenge, Eramis yanked her up until Olu’s impractical heeled boots dangled then proceeded to shake her like a ragged doll. Olu rattled and clinked as if her petticoat was filled with metal parts — which it probably was.

“Then howl all you like, undead thing,” Eramis growled, still shaking the human. “I will make sure you regret every second you decided to attach yourself to me. _That_ is part of my deal.”

A greenish tinge had come up over Olu’s face. She made a noise of protest, twisting this way and that. “Fine, fine! I’ll be less chatty.”

Eramis dropped her. Olu landed on her feet, saved by only the cuff around her right wrist when Eramis held it up to keep her in place.

Olu looked like a sorry sight, all ruffled and scuffed, less like a Lightbearer and more like a dreg whose molt hadn’t finished. She took a moment to straighten out her cloak, not saying anything. Her mouth was fixed in that weird curved shape, but even Eramis could tell that something was stilted about it,

“You have not thought this all through, have you,” Eramis said, hating that she needed to end the reprieve of silence.

“Only the fun bits, I’m afraid,” Olu admitted, smoothing out her skirts. She tugged at their cuffs. “I’m just the escort now, remember?”

Eramis closed her eyes. Four million glimmer to get rid of this creature could just be worth it. “You’ll have to pretend to be my prisoner. My crew won’t accept anything less.”

“Fine by me,” Olu said, heedless of the number of fists Eramis just made with her hands.

Horrid. Shameless. So quick to play prisoner, worse than a dreg. No honor, these humans. None at all.

And Olu only smiled her disgusting human smile again.

“So,” she said, “Where to now, boss?”


End file.
